About: Eurogroup
Eurogroup ministers discuss economic governance framework
Monday’s meeting of the eurozone finance ministers was the first opportunity to discuss the review of the EU’s economic governance framework. While Commissioner Gentiloni hoped for a fresh start in the debate, the Austrian finance minister Gernot Blümel insisted on keeping the current rules.
EU puts its digital tax on hold after US pressure
The European Commission announced on Monday (12 July) it will put on hold its own proposal for a digital levy in Europe in order to facilitate a global tax agreement. The digital tax, which would have affected US tech giants, was postponed following repeated calls from Washington on the Europeans to cancel their plans.
Eurogroup fails to agree on a calendar to complete banking union
Eurozone finance ministers (Eurogroup) failed to agree on Thursday (17 June) on a calendar to complete the banking union with a common deposit insurance scheme, as Germany continued to oppose any progress unless member states address other issues, including bank exposure to sovereign debt.
EU pushes for convergence of insolvency rules to support recovery
The European Commission is preparing a series of proposals to drive the capital markets union to facilitate the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most difficult battles will be reducing the differences between national insolvency frameworks.
Eurozone to forgo budget belt-tightening for now
Eurozone finance ministers said Monday (15 March) they would not tighten spending given the continuing pandemic in Europe, but warned that soaring debt levels would eventually have to be fixed.
Investors ‘concerned’ about EU recovery fund rollout, warns ESM chief
EU’s recovery funds could start flowing to member states before summer. Still, investors are “concerned” about the speed of the implementation of the EU’s joint stimulus, the European Stability Mechanism said on Monday (15 February).
Eurogroup excludes additional EU stimulus against second virus wave
Eurozone finance ministers said late on Tuesday (3 November) that Europe “is now better equipped” to address the COVID-19 crisis and ruled out new joint measures to tackle the second wave of the virus.
Big euro economies push for strong cryptocurrency rules
The finance ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain called on the European Commission to include “strong rules” in its upcoming cryptocurrency proposal, in particular for global digital tokens like Facebook’s Libra.
Revolving Doors: The case of Mário Centeno
The Portuguese Government, led by socialist Prime Minister, António Costa, has appointed the former Eurogroup President and Portuguese Finance Minister, Mário Centeno, as Governor of Portugal’s Central Bank. Never have the revolving doors of finance spun so fast, writes João Cotrim de Figueiredo.
Donohoe wins Eurogroup presidency
Ireland’s minister of Finance, Pascal Donohoe, will be the next Eurogroup chief, outgoing president Mario Centeno announced.
Election day: Calviño and Donohoe neck and neck in Eurogroup race
Eurozone finance ministers are split on whether to pick their Spanish colleague Nadia Calviño or Ireland’s Paschal Donohoe as the next Eurogroup president during a videoconference on Thursday (9 July), EU sources and diplomats told EURACTIV.com.
Calviño, Donohoe and Gramegna compete for Eurogroup helm
Ministers Nadia Calviño (Spain), Paschal Donohoe (Ireland) and Pierre Gramegna (Luxembourg) will compete for the Eurogroup Presidency. While Calviño could become the first woman to chair the body, her colleagues promised to become ‘bridge builders’ between the different positions.
Eurogroup race hits milestone with no official candidates yet
The deadline for eurozone finance ministers to put forward their candidacy to chair the Eurogroup ends on Thursday (25 June), with no official contenders yet, although Spain’s Nadia Calviño, Ireland’s Paschal Donohoe and Luxembourg’s Pierre Gramegna are seen as leading the race.
Centeno: Portugal today has a credible economic and budgetary policy
In his last interview as Portugal's finance minister, Mário Centeno, who is also the outgoing president of the Eurogroup, talked to the Portuguese broadcast RTP about his mandates, the relation with Prime Minister (PM) António Costa and the possibility of becoming the new governor of the Bank of Portugal.
Tweets of the Week: Eurogroup Head, Statues Down, Brexit Cherry Picking
Speculation about Eurogroup top post, across the EU racist statues are toast, and Brexit is back like an unwelcome ghost.
Spain’s Calvino boasts ‘key role’ in Eurogroup to support her candidacy
Spain’s minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño highlighted her “key role” in preparing the Eurogroup response to the COVID-19 crisis, as the eurozone finance ministers will pick a new president in early July.
Ex-Eurogroup boss: Nobody is so stupid to propose to ‘just go back under 3% deficit’
As one of the most influential Eurogroup figures during the previous crisis, Thomas Wieser chaired the preparatory meetings of eurozone finance ministers between 2011 and 2018. In an interview with EURACTIV, the American-Austrian economist described the EU’s fiscal rules as “bad practical economics”, in particular for handling a crisis such as the current one.
Mario Centeno quits Eurogroup post, Portuguese government
Portuguese Finance Minister Mário Centeno, the Eurogroup's president, has resigned from government, following a period of less than idyllic relations with Prime Minister António Costa, and will be replaced by state secretary for budget João Leão.
ESM corona-loans expected to be available from 15 May
The €240 billion in ‘cheap’ loans for countries affected by the coronavirus COVID-19 will be available as from 15 May, 15 days ahead of the expected date, European Stability Mechanism (ESM) chief, Klaus Regling, said on Friday (8 May).
EU finance ministers to pass on ECB ruling
The Eurogroup will discuss on Friday (8 May) the German Constitutional Court's controversial ruling on the European Central Bank's critical bond-buying programme but will not take a position, according to EU sources.
Reforms, investment and the EU Recovery Plan
The EU member states are finally discussing an ambitious European Recovery Plan and the good news is that they already have the right tool at hand, writes Dragoș Pîslaru.
Centeno: ‘The old books by which we governed are of no use in this period’
In an interview with the Portuguese newspaper Público, the President of the Eurogroup, Mário Centeno, shared some leads about the EU’s recovery plan. He believes that the new recovery plan should have its “own, appropriate and innovative funding mechanism”.
EU and COVID-19: Time to think outside the box
The Eurogroup’s decisions taken on 9 April were a necessary and overdue collective EU response, as well as a welcome but flawed and incomplete compromise. If European leaders are to save the EU economy when they meet on 23 April, they need to think outside the box, write Carlos Closa, George Papaconstantino, and Miguel Poiares Maduro.